Indian billionaires: Gautam Adani, Dilip Shangvhi see highest growth

Gautam Adani, 52, has added nearly $3 billion (Rs 19,000 crore) to his wealth on soaring shares of his companies.

Gautam Adani, 52, has added nearly billion (Rs 19,000 crore) to his wealth on soaring shares of his companies that operate in areas such as trading, power, ports and edible oils. (Reuters)

Billionaire Gautam Adani’s wealth has zoomed 48 per cent in the 12 months to May 27, 2015 – the day after the NDA government took office – to an estimated $8.1 billion (about Rs 51,600 crore), the highest gain in net worth among the seven Indians figuring in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. In terms of rise in wealth, Adani is followed by Dilip Shanghvi of Sun Pharma, HCL’s Shiv Nadar, Arcelor-Mittal chief LN Mittal and Wipro’s Azim Premji. Mukesh Ambani, India’s wealthiest and top ranked billionaire, and construction magnate Pallonji Mistry, however, recorded a decline in net worth during the period, according to the data.

Adani, 52, has added nearly $3 billion (Rs 19,000 crore) to his wealth on soaring shares of his companies that operate in areas such as trading, power, ports and edible oils. Much of this has to do with the fact that Adani has been on a asset buying spree since the middle of last year — he bought the Dhamra port from the Tata Group for $900 million (Rs 5,700 crore) and agreed to pay $1 billion (Rs 6,300 crore) for Lanco Infratech’s Udupi power plant. The steady growth in wealth among the country’s billionaires, is reflected in the growth in the broader markets.

Stock market wealth is estimated to have shot up by a notional Rs 10 lakh crore during the last 12 months. While conglomerates such as the Tatas, the Adani group and Bharti Airtel are among those that clocked sharp gains during the period, the two Ambani groups, the Vedanta conglomerate, core sector major L&T saw their wealth being whittled down. Despite a sharp plunge in stock markets during the past couple of months, the benchmark indices have managed to clock an annual gain of nearly 12 per cent during the one-year period.